Michigan in the news

Kristin Seefeldt of the National Poverty Center told the Wall Street Journal that the requirement to enter a job search program in order to receive welfare in Michigan is seen as a roadblock for those seeking assistance.

In an MSNBC article about the use of robotics in surgery, Paul Carson of the Department of Radiology and Biomedical Engineering said robotic surgeons are becoming more reliable, but fully automated surgery is at least 10 years away from reality.

In a Livingston Community News article about the U-M Aphasia Program, Director Joanne Marttila Pierson said the six-week course helps those who have had brain damage due to cancer or stroke re-learn speech that was lost.

A crew films a commercial for the state’s “Pure Michigan” tourism campaign. Footage was shot Tuesday at various locations around Ann Arbor and U-M, including this segment of children spinning The Cube in Regents’ Plaza. The 30-second spot is for the state’s ongoing campaign to draw visitors to Michigan’s cultural and recreational attractions. (Photo by James Iseler)

Student-created smartphone app promotes good deedsBeautify your world. Leave an inspirational message in a public place. Connect with a family member. These are just a few of the proposed acts of kindness pushed out to users of a new smartphone application called DoGood, developed by U-M students. “We simply wanted to empower the 40 million iPhone and iPod Touch users to collectively do acts of kindness,” says Jason Bornhorst, a senior computer science and engineering student. “I can go smile at a stranger, but what if we could get 300,000 people to do that? … The world needs something like this.”

Shedding the new venture mystiqueWith big companies shedding jobs in this recession, some former employees and unattached executives are exploring entrepreneurship. Those venturing there for the first time will find a different set of rules, says Jim Price, adjunct lecturer of entrepreneurial studies at Ross and chairman and co-founder of Cielo MedSolutions LLC.

The Michigan Difference

A scientist to watch
Liangcai Gu, a 2008 doctoral graduate in the College of Pharmacy, exemplifies the eagerness to learn and determination to make a difference that are hallmarks of U-M’s pharmacy program. “It’s been a privilege having had him in my lab,” says David Sherman, Hans W. Vahlteich Professor of Medicinal Chemistry and director of the Center for Chemical Genomics. “He is definitely a scientist to watch.”